The Ministry of Social Welfare and Empowerment, Government of India,
assists NGOs in various ways to bring about social welface schemes to
the weaker and marginalised sections of the society. The ministry has a
set of guidelines for NGOs to seek assistance from the government which
are mentioned below:-

The Background

The Ministry is charged with the promotion of welfare,
ensuring social justice for and empowerment of disadvantaged and
marginalized sections of society.It is the responsibility of the
Ministry to reach the target group which includes the Scheduled Castes,
Minorities, Backward Classes, Disabled, Aged Persons, Street children
and victims of Drug Abuse.The objective is to bring them into the
mainstream of development by assisting them to overcome their social,
physical and educational handicaps.In this manner, their progress
through capacity building can be ensured.This would equip them to employ
their capabilities to their fullest potential reducing their reliance /
dependence on others and achieving independence to the maximum extent
possible - the ultimate goal of such assistance extended by the
Government.

The financial resources available with the
Central and State Governments are limited and therefore it is necessary
to ensure that the resources of the State are optimally utilized to
bring maximum benefit to maximum number. It has been recognized that
along side the efforts of the state, the services of the voluntary
organization in assisting the target groups are indispensable.They
supplement the efforts of the state in ensuring that the benefits reach
the maximum number.In certain cases, it is the voluntary organizations
that are in a better position to implement the schemes of the Govt. in a
more efficient manner than Govt. itself.This is primarily attributable
to the highly committed and dedicated human resources that are available
with the voluntary organizations.Further, they often have better
expertise and are more knowledgeable about the local conditions that
make them a better delivery system than what the Govt. can put together.
Therefore increasing participation of the voluntary organizations in
nation and society building is not only desirable but also crucial.

The
presence of Voluntary organizations is not uniform throughout the
nation. Similarly, there are certain spheres of activities that attract
more voluntary organizations just as their concentration in some
regions. This twin situation often results in disparate development of
regions as well as of sectors. It is the intention of the Ministry to
encourage the horizontal spread of development alongside sectoral growth
in spheres that have received comparatively less attention or may need
more attention.

It is also the experience of the Ministry
that some voluntary organizations are better equipped to avail of the
financial assistance from the Ministry than others. Ideally, the scarce
resource should be available to voluntary organizations according to the
regions and sectors that require intervention according to the problems
the society may be confronted with and the priorities identified by the
Government.

Some Voluntary organizations also thrive
exclusively on aid from Govt. This is a situation that needs to be
reversed. Voluntary organizations should be able to build on the support
from the Govt. and establish other support systems that would gradually
reduce their dependence on Govt. Such a policy would enable the growth
of more voluntary organizations that can work in more sectors. The
objective of the Govt. is not the support of existing voluntary
organizations alone, but to encourage growth of new ones as well.

It
should be the intention of the voluntary organizations to obtain
support of other sources for their operation. This could be achieved
after they are able to establish themselves with the support of the
Govt. and prove their usefulness to the society at large. With the
credibility that they may be able to earn, they would be able to enlist
the support of corporate houses and even the community. Contributions
both in kind and finances would become easily available once credentials
are firmly recognized. Additional resources could be mobilized in this
manner.

Voluntary organizations should also accord
increasing priority to the involvement of the community in the social
activity that the organization may be undertaking. Community involvement
in projects has several apparent and consequential or spin-off
benefits. It helps in improving the efficacy of the programme, effecting
attitudinal changes towards the beneficiaries, identification of those
acutely in need of the assistance and change in the psyche (feeling of
acceptance or recognition by society can lead to increased motivation)
of those affected and the like.

Voluntary organizations be
encouraged through a system of matching grants to raise resources from
the public, business houses, national and international organizations.